The sluggish UK economy continues to present businesses with a range of challenges: keeping control of costs, spotting growth opportunities and driving through internal efficiencies remain high on the corporate agenda. For many businesses, the focus has fallen on looking internally for both better operational performance and ensuring compliance with the increasing regulatory burden.

Finance directors, in particular, have spent considerable time on re-engineering their businesses. Central to that effort is the issue of how fixed assets are managed. Compared with five years ago, there is greater scrutiny over balance sheets from finance providers, stakeholders and auditors. Businesses simply cannot afford to let their fixed asset registers become out of date and beyond the understanding of the finance function.

It is with this backdrop that Real Asset Management partnered with Financial Director magazine to conduct in-depth research into how FDs are facing up to this challenge, where the gaps are, and what tools and systems they can use to improve their asset management performance.